Thursday, July 19, 2012

Renotta King Peru Memorial Project

““Before I formed you
in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you
as a prophet to the nations.” “Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know
how to speak; I am too young.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too
young.’ You must go to everyone I send you and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you
and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.“
Jeremiah 1: 5-8

I have heard this verse more times than I can count over the
last 24 years of my life. This has been
my parents “life verse” that has carried them through pastoral ministries, and
on to cross-cultural ministries. Most
people don’t know this, but my mom was called to be a missionary when she was
in college. God spent years molding her
and preparing her for the work he had for my parents overseas. God then called my dad when I was just 12
years old. The rest is history!

My mom loved the Peruvians, and recognized that this calling was not just for
her marriage, but for her individual growth in the Lord. She took her job there very seriously. She developed a deep love for the people and
the culture of Peru. In her final days,
mom made it clear that she wanted to carry on her ministry to the Peruvians,
even after death. My dad promised her he
would make this happen. This brought the
birth of the Renotta King Peru Memorial
Project.

Thanks to hundreds of generous donations, we were able to
contact a dear family friend, Oscar Medina, to develop a much-needed project in
the area of Trujilo, Peru. Oscar and my
parents shared the same passion for discipleship and leadership within the
church community. He and my dad, both,
have been called to train ordinary men to do extraordinary things for the
Kingdom of God. This passion allowed the
church of the Nazarene purchased a retreat center through the funds provided by
the Renotta King Memorial fund. This
retreat center will be used for so many things!! Pastor and wives will be able
to come and reconnect with God, growing in their own personal relationship with
him so they can further benefit their surrounding communities. This will also be a place of fellowship and
discipleship for local Peruvians to build up their relationship with the Lord.

Three weeks ago, 16 of us went to Trujillo, Peru to start
the building process for this retreat center.
We laid bricks, painted (oh man! Did we paint!!), and spent time with
the Peruvian people within the community.
We also had a day that we were able to go to a nearby church in the
area, and lay bricks for a second floor in their church to share the love of
Christ with the children in the community, along with teaching them how to read
and write. On the last day, we invited
the surrounding churches to join us in dedicating this center to Renotta, and
the Christ like life she chose to live. This
particular evening was so important to my family, and we are grateful for those
who chose to come and work to support this ministry.

Lord willing, we will be taking two more teams down within the next few years to finish the work we started. We want to express our gratitude to everyone who has and will contribute to the Renotta King Peru Memorial fund. We could not even begin this project without those who chose to honor Renotta in this way. We also want to thank the group who sacrificed their time and money to come and do physical labor for a week!! Gods light shined through everyone involved, and reached many lives in the process.

Andy, David, and Nick showed the Peruvians how to play "American football". They really loved tackling and were shocked by the concept.

Allison was a master at catching bricks!

Rebekah and Amber priming one of many walls in the retreat center.

This tarantula was found dead outside the men's dormitory! yikes!

Oscar Medina and Marlon are lifelong friends!

Nick and Alex found a little friend

David and Nick demonstrated the precise art of bricklaying.

The group:

We all fell in love with the grounds keeper, Tio! He always wore that big hat and whistled joyfully!
Below: Allison made friends with every child in which she came in contact. It proves that you don't need to speak the language to show Christ's love.

The King family was overwhelmed with emotion when Oscar presented a plaque that will be placed the the chapel of the retreat center, dedicating it to the life and ministry of Renotta King. (we missed Ashley!!!!)

I want to say a special thank you to Rebekah Gernhard, Allison Simmons, and Samantha Meinerding. You each showed a tremendous amount of love and sacrifice by spending part of your summer to be with me during such a monumental time in my life. I am so appreciative for friends who loved my mom, and chose to support me in this endeavor. I love you each very much and will never forget what a huge blessing you are in my life.

2 comments:

I love you and your blog! You did an excellent job explaining our time in Trujillo and Mom's passion for the country and people of Peru. It was an awesome trip filled with the Holy Spirit's presence! I continue to praise the Lord for the opportunity to go! Love you!